Glaucoma App on Apple iTunes With Eye Drop Reminders and Other Features Appeals to Glaucoma Patients and Their Caregivers

The September 2016 issue of the Journal of Glaucoma reported the results of a survey evaluating the interest of glaucoma patients and their caregivers in a smartphone-based and tablet-based glaucoma application (App), developed by the Wills Eye Glaucoma Research Center in collaboration with Drexel University.

The Glaucoma App – presently available as a free download on Apple’s iTunes store – includes educational videos, eye drop and appointment reminders, medical and ocular data storage, visual field tutorial, and intraocular pressure tracker. The goal of the App is to increase patients’ knowledge about glaucoma and improve their compliance with respect to their eye drop regimen and follow-up appointments.

The survey found, among other things, that participants were more likely to download the App if it remained free of charge, as compared with a version that costs $3. Although only about one-third of participants actually used the eye drop reminders, nearly three-quarters of participants were receptive to using the automated reminder feature.